Wilco Live In Santa Barbara

        After a listen to Wilco's new album The Whole Love, I knew that this would be a tour I did not want to miss.  So when I saw that they would be playing the Arlington theatre in Santa Barbara (one of my favorite venues), I immediately hopped on some tickets.  So a few weeks ago, my friend Wynne and I drove down to Santa Barbara, and after watching a sunset that made us extremely jealous of UCSB students, we went over to the venue.  Anticipation was high, and although the opener, White Denim, was impressive, we could not wait for Wilco.  And sure enough they fulfilled all expectations and more.
The band opened with "reservations", and older, folk tune that showed off Jeff Tweedy's amazing tone.  They soon broke into a few of the hits off Whole Love and with dramatic dynamics, the crowd was in their hands.  One song that stood out to me was "Impossible Germany", a hit off their 2007 album Sky Blue Sky.  While the band built a groovy foundation, lead guitarist Nels Cline explored the fret board aggressively with a solo that had us all on our feet.  And as they built up to a ground-shaking climax, they managed to maintain their clarity and control, demonstrating their experience as a band that has been touring for almost 20 years.  With Jeff Tweedy's amiable persona, the unpredictalbe setlist, and the perfectly constructed encore, Wilco made the night feel special (which is no easy task after being on tour for months).  On the drive back to school, I could not help but throw Wilco on my ipod, only to rant about how "it was sooo much better live".

Video of Wilco live on Letterman